Notice of Intention to Distribute a Deceased Estate in QLD: How Executors Protect Themselves From Late Claims

General Information Only. This article explains general principles of Queensland estate administration and is not legal advice. The law described here changed in 2026, so the legislation referred to must be confirmed as current with a qualified solicitor before you act. Estate matters turn on their own facts — obtain advice specific to your circumstances.

Quick Answer

In Queensland, a notice of intention to distribute is a formal advertisement — now published under the Trusts Act 2025 — giving creditors, beneficiaries and other claimants at least two months to come forward. Combined with the family provision periods that run from the date of death, it protects the executor personally from unknown late claims.

Distribution is the moment of greatest personal risk for an executor. Once the money is paid out, a creditor or family provision claimant who surfaces later may look to the executor personally to make up the shortfall. The notice procedure under the Trusts Act 2025 (Qld), combined with the family provision waiting periods in the Succession Act 1981 (Qld) — all of which run from the date of death — is how a diligent executor closes off that exposure. This guide explains what the notice does, how long to wait, where to publish it, and the traps that catch unwary executors. (confirm current legislation and section numbers with your solicitor)

What Is a Notice of Intention to Distribute in QLD?

A notice of intention to distribute is a public advertisement placed by the executor (or administrator) stating that they intend to distribute the estate and inviting anyone with a claim — whether as creditor, beneficiary or otherwise — to come forward within a stated period. The notice does not shorten anyone’s right to make a claim in court. What it does is protect the executor: if the executor distributes after complying with the notice and the applicable waiting periods, they are generally protected from personal liability for claims of which they had no notice at the time of distribution.

Where the deceased already held a grant from another state or country, the executor often has an extra procedural step before any of this, and our walkthrough on applying for a reseal of probate in Queensland explains how that earlier grant is recognised locally so administration can proceed smoothly.

Once the notice period has closed and any claims are accounted for, the executor can move to paying out the estate. See our guide on how to distribute funds after probate for the timing and steps involved.

In Queensland this notice is given under section 135 of the Trusts Act 2025 (Qld), which commenced on 28 April 2026 and replaced section 67 of the now-repealed Trusts Act 1973 (Qld). Because the notice covers claims “whether as creditor, beneficiary or otherwise,” it also guards against an unknown beneficiary — for example, a child of the deceased who surfaces after distribution. After the closing day in the notice has passed, the executor may distribute having regard only to the claims of which they actually have notice, with protection under section 136. (confirm current legislation and section numbers with your solicitor)

The protection is personal to the executor, not the estate. A creditor or claimant who missed the notice is not necessarily left without a remedy — they may still be able to trace and recover the money from the beneficiaries who received it. The point of the notice is simply that the executor is no longer the one on the hook. Note too that a notice published after 28 April 2026 in the old section 67 form may not attract the protection — the current form must be used. (confirm current legislation and section numbers with your solicitor)

Two distinct waiting regimes run in parallel and executors must respect both: the Trusts Act 2025 notice to claimants, and the family provision claim periods under the Succession Act 1981 (Qld). They protect against different risks and have different timeframes — and, critically, the family provision periods run from the date of death, not from the date of the grant.

The Waiting Periods Every Executor Must Respect

The section numbers, the two-month minimum and the family provision periods above should each be confirmed against the current Queensland legislation, because the notice provisions were restated when the Trusts Act 2025 commenced. (confirm current legislation and section numbers with your solicitor)

Family Provision: The Six-Month and Nine-Month Rules (From Death)

The family provision timeframes under the Succession Act 1981 (Qld) are the most common source of executor liability at distribution — and every one of them runs from the date of death, not the date of the grant. In broad terms:

• An eligible person must give written notice of an intended application within six months of death, and generally must institute proceedings within nine months of death, unless the court otherwise directs (extensions are possible).
• Do not distribute earlier than six months after death unless you are confident no family provision claim exists and no written notice has been received. A proper distribution made not earlier than six months after death, with no notice of a claim received, is generally protected.
• Where written notice of a claim has been received, protection can apply to a proper distribution made not earlier than nine months after death, unless proceedings have been commenced or the application has been served.
• The court can extend time. A claimant may be granted leave to apply out of time — which is exactly why the notice-and-wait procedure matters: it shifts the risk of an unknown late claim away from the executor.

These limbs interact in a way that is easy to get wrong, so the safe course is to treat the nine-month point as the practical clearance date and to hold back a reserve wherever any claim is foreshadowed. This page is a companion to our guide on how long an executor has to distribute an estate (the executor’s year) — read the two together. The six-month and nine-month periods and their exact triggers should be confirmed against the current Succession Act 1981 (Qld), sections 41 and 44. (confirm current legislation and section numbers with your solicitor)

Where and How to Publish the Notice in Queensland

The mechanics are straightforward, but each step should be documented because the protection depends on having complied properly:

1. Publish the notice in the approved manner. In practice the notice is published in the Queensland Law Reporter (QLR) — usually combined with the notice of intention to apply for a grant, which itself must run at least 14 days before the grant application is filed — or separately on the approved Queensland Reports public notices website. The Supreme Court’s Practice Direction 1 of 2026 approves that website for separate section 135 notices.
2. State a compliant closing day. The notice must give claimants at least two months from publication to submit particulars of their claims to the executor.
3. A grant is not a precondition to publishing. A grant of probate or letters of administration is needed to administer most assets, but the section 135 notice is not limited to post-grant publication — it can be run with the grant-application notice or separately.
4. Run both clocks. Publishing the Trusts Act notice does not override the family provision periods — wait out the closing day and the six/nine-month periods from death.
5. Assess every claim received before distributing. Verify, admit or reject claims that come in, and resolve disputes before paying beneficiaries.
6. Keep dated proof of publication and a distribution file. Retain the advertisement, the QLR submission dates, and your record of claims assessed — this evidence is what establishes your protection.

What the Notice Does Not Protect You From

The notice is powerful but not a cure-all. It does not protect an executor from:

• Claims the executor actually knew about. If you are aware of a debt or a foreshadowed family provision claim, you cannot ignore it by publishing a notice — you must deal with it or hold a reserve.
• Distributing too early. Publishing a notice does not shorten the family provision periods that run from death. Distributing before those periods have run can still expose you personally.
• Your own breaches of duty. The notice does not excuse maladministration, failing to pay estate debts in the correct order, or ignoring a proper claim.
• Tax liabilities. The notice does not cover a failure to provide for the estate’s tax — see the tax section below.
• Insolvent estates. If the estate cannot pay its debts, the statutory priority rules for insolvent estates apply and the notice does not change who gets paid first.

Court Directions: The Ultimate Backstop

If the executor is genuinely uncertain — a disputed debt, an unquantified claim, or a foreshadowed family provision threat — they can apply to the Supreme Court for directions under the Trusts Act 2025 (Qld), sections 184–185. An executor who acts in accordance with the court’s directions is protected. It costs time and money, but it converts doubt into court-sanctioned safety, and it is far cheaper than personally funding a claim that lands after distribution. (confirm current legislation and section numbers with your solicitor)

Known but Unquantified Claims: Reserve or Seek Directions

A claim you know about but cannot yet quantify — a disputed loan, an open tax query, or a foreshadowed family provision claim — is not cured by the notice period expiring. The safe options are to resolve it, reserve for it, obtain releases, or seek directions. When reserving against a family provision threat, size the reserve against what the claim could realistically achieve on the estate’s facts: a nominal holdback protects no one. Take advice on the figure, and document how you arrived at it.

Provide for Tax Before You Distribute

The notice does not protect against failing to provide for tax. Before distributing, the executor should account for date-of-death income tax returns, any estate (trust) income tax, capital gains tax on assets sold or transferred, land tax, and outstanding ATO correspondence. Where any tax position is unresolved, hold a tax reserve — distributing the lot and hoping the ATO does not follow up can leave the executor personally liable. Our executor’s year guide covers the timing of these obligations in more detail.

Pay Debts in the Correct Order Before Distributing

A notice protects you against unknown claims, but you still have to apply the estate’s assets in the correct order before anything reaches the beneficiaries. Broadly, funeral and testamentary expenses and the costs of administration come first, then debts and liabilities, and only the net residue is available for distribution. Where a solvent estate’s assets must be applied to debts, the Succession Act 1981 (Qld) sets the order in which assets are resorted to, subject to any contrary intention in the will. For the full sequence, see our step-by-step guide to dealing with estate debts and the executor’s guide to managing estate debts and liabilities. Getting this order wrong is a direct route to personal liability. (confirm current legislation and section numbers with your solicitor)

Insolvent Estates: The Notice Does Not Change Priorities

If debts exceed assets, the estate is insolvent and a different regime applies. Estate property is assets for the payment of debts, and statutory priority rules govern who is paid and in what order (Succession Act 1981 (Qld), sections 56–57). A notice of intention to distribute does not change those priorities — it only protects against unknown claims in a solvent estate. If you suspect insolvency, take advice before paying anyone, and see our guide to insolvent estates in Queensland. (confirm current legislation and section numbers with your solicitor)

Interim Distributions

A compliant notice supports a safer final distribution, but it does not make early payouts risk-free. Interim distributions can be appropriate — for example, an urgent payment to a dependent beneficiary — but they still require a retained reserve for known debts, tax, expenses and family provision risk. Keep the reserve realistic and document why the interim payment was justified.

Executors who are worried that these holding periods are dragging things out can read our overview of probate delays in Queensland, which sets out the common causes and practical ways to keep an estate moving.

Practical Example

Priya is the executor of her late father’s estate. Her father dies on 1 February. Probate is granted in March, and she publishes a section 135 notice inviting claims with a closing day in May. No creditor responds. Eager to satisfy the two adult beneficiaries who are pressing her, she distributes the whole estate in late May — under four months after death.

In August, her estranged half-sister — who gave written notice of an intended family provision claim in June, within six months of death — files her application, within nine months of death. The section 135 notice does not protect Priya against this claim: she distributed inside the six-month window and, once the June notice arrived, the nine-month rule applied. She may be exposed personally for the provision the court orders, and now faces the difficult task of clawing funds back from beneficiaries who have already spent them.

Had Priya instead waited until the family provision periods had run from death — or held back a realistic reserve once the June notice arrived — and only then distributed, she would have been protected. Compliant timing here meant waiting past the nine-month point (early November) before paying out the contested portion.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is publishing a notice of intention to distribute compulsory?

It is not always strictly compulsory, but it is strongly recommended. Without it, an executor who distributes and is later met with an unknown creditor or beneficiary claim may have to satisfy that claim personally. The notice is the standard way a prudent executor obtains protection under section 136 of the Trusts Act 2025 (Qld).

How long must I wait after publishing the notice?

The section 135 notice must allow claimants at least two months from publication to come forward. Separately, the family provision periods run from the date of death: distribute no earlier than six months after death where no notice has been received, and observe the nine-month filing period where a claim has been foreshadowed. The safest practice is to treat the nine-month point as the real clearance date.

Where do I publish the notice in Queensland?

In practice the notice is published in the Queensland Law Reporter — usually combined with the notice of intention to apply for a grant — or separately on the approved Queensland Reports public notices website. Keep dated proof of publication on your distribution file.

Can I distribute early if all the beneficiaries agree?

Beneficiary agreement does not remove the risk from creditors or from a family provision applicant who is not a party to that agreement. Adult beneficiaries can indemnify you, but an indemnity is only as strong as the beneficiary behind it — it may be worthless if they later go bankrupt, spend the money, die or move overseas. Early distribution remains risky.

What if I know about a claim but it has not been quantified?

The notice period expiring does not cure a claim you already know about. Resolve it, hold a realistic reserve sized against what the claim could achieve, obtain releases, or apply to the court for directions before distributing.

What if a claim comes in after I have distributed?

If you distributed with proper protection — a compliant section 135 notice and the family provision periods observed — you are generally not personally liable for a claim you did not know about. The claimant may still pursue the beneficiaries who received the funds. If you distributed early or knew of the claim, you may be personally exposed.

Does the notice help with an insolvent estate?

No. If debts exceed assets, the insolvent-estate priority rules (Succession Act 1981 (Qld), sections 56–57) govern who is paid and in what order. A notice does not change those priorities.

Conclusion

The notice of intention to distribute is one of the most important protective tools available to a Queensland executor. Used correctly — the section 135 notice with its two-month closing day, alongside the family provision periods that run from the date of death, and the correct order of paying debts and tax — it lets an executor distribute with confidence rather than exposure. The recurring mistake is treating the creditor notice as a green light while ignoring the family provision clock, or distributing before the periods have run. When in doubt, wait, hold a realistic reserve, seek directions, and document everything — and confirm the current statutory provisions with a solicitor before you pay out. Executors should also confirm the estate’s tax position — see tax clearance before distributing a deceased estate in Queensland — before making final payments.

Once the claim period has passed, the final step is transferring assets and closing the estate — see our step-by-step guide to distributing a deceased estate in Queensland for the full process.

Key Takeaways

Before distributing, executors should ensure they have completed all obligations around notifying beneficiaries: what executors must tell them and when.